“District Designated Funds”
Your Generosity Doing Good in the World
Each year, our District receives a block grant from The Rotary Foundation. The block grant is funded by donations Rotarians, Rotary clubs and supporters of Rotary have made to the Annual Fund. The Rotary Foundation invests the contributions it receives for three years, using only the interest income to pay the administrative expenses of the Foundation. At the end of three years, every dollar donated is put into humanitarian service.
Our District receives fifty-percent (50%) of this amount as “District Designated Funds”, or “DDF”. Our District uses a portion of its “DDF” to make District Grants to Rotary clubs and to support international matching grants, now known as “Global Grants.” District Designated Funds are also used to support the Global Grant scholar program and Vocational Training Teams.
The Rotary Foundation places the remaining 50% of contributions into the World Fund, which is used to provided funding for Global Grants and to support Foundation programs such as the World Peace Fellows scholarship.
District Grants
District Grants are more flexible than ever before!
- District Grants can be used for local projects or projects in Mexico.
- District Grants can be used to support traditional hands-on service projects.
- Larger grants mean larger projects – The minimum District Grant project size is $1,000. ($500 from the club and $500 from the District.) Clubs are encouraged to work together on a joint project, with a lead club submitting the grant application and final report.
Global Grants
Global Grants from The Rotary Foundation support sustainable projects in one of Rotary’s Six Areas of Focus
- Partner with any qualified club in any qualified District anywhere in the world.
- The minimum Gobal Grant project size is $30,000 for sustainable international projects.
- A new online process for applications, reports and record keeping.
Preparing Your Rotary Club to Receive Grant Funding
With much more grant money under local control, our District and our Rotary clubs must be good stewards of Foundation funds. Both the District and participating Rotary clubs must adopt sound financial practices and keep accurate records. To qualify your club to receive grant funding:
- TWO Club members must attend a Grant Management Seminar to learn more about best practices for managing funds responsibly
- Sign a “Club Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) agreeing to put those practices into action
In addition, your Rotary club must be:
- Current on all District and RI dues
- Current on all reporting of District and Global Grants
Ready to get started?
- Get Your Reporting Up to Date!
- All reports for the previous year must be done before you proceed
- Review the Grants Management Seminar Slides
- Watch an online webinar
- Understand the Terms, Conditions and Guidelines
- Create a sustainable project
- Enter Your Grant Proposal
District Grants Downloads
2024-25 DDF Allocation (22 KB)- 2024-25 Memorandum of Understanding MOU for Local District GRANTS (35 KB)
- 2024-25 Memorandum of Understanding MOU for International Dist and Global Grants (20 KB)
- 2024 District Grants Presentation from DTA March 2024 (22 KB)
- 2022-23 Step By Step MatchingGrants.org instructions (319 KB)
- District Grant Application – Fillable (80 KB)
District Grant Final Report (55 KB)- District Grants – Partners Understanding (42 KB)
- TRF Conflict of Interest Policy (106 KB)
Global Grant Downloads
Other Global Grant Downloads are available from:
https://my.rotary.org/en/take-action/apply-grants/global-grants